Various application programs are available that allow users to generate graphical charts that represent data. Example application programs that include such facility include spreadsheet programs, word processing programs, and presentation programs. The graphical chart representations of the data can take on a variety of forms such as a linear graph, a bar graph, a polar graph, a pie chart, a scatter plot, as well as other varieties of graphical representations that can be 2-dimernsional (2D) or 3-dimensional (3D). Such graphical representation can make the data easier to visualize and understand for any number of purposes.
A formatting tool is typically employed by a user to select the graphical representation for the selected data. In order to format a chart, a user typically selects individual elements and data series to format, and then selects a graphical format for representing the data as a particular chart type. Each represented element and data series can have a different user selected graphical representation according to color, legend marker, line style, fill style or other graphical indicia. The formatting tool typically can allow the user to select any number of pre-defined chart types by a user input mechanism such as selection from a menu (pull-up, pull-down, pop-up, etc.) or selection from a gallery, where each chart-type is represented by a small icon that provides a visual indication of the chart type.
Once the formatting for a particular chart is completed, some formatting tools permit storing of the user defined format for the current chart. Multiple chart types can be defined and collected in a common library so that users can access and utilize a standardized set of chart types with common graphical themes. Some environments also permit the user-defined chart types to be stored in a text file that can be accessed by pull-down menus, or as a gallery file that includes a static iconic representation of a chart-type.